Mental illness becomes a priority
Print Edition
China is promising better treatment for people with mental illness and an expansion of medical aid to more patients, many of whom have been neglected until the troubled turn troublemaker.
China had 4.3 million severely mentally impaired patients on official records at the end of 2014, more than 55 percent of them living in poverty.
A 2015-2020 plan for mental health work sets a goal of more than 80 percent of people with severe mental illnesses in 鈥渕anagement鈥 by 2020, with treatment covering at least 80 percent of schizophrenia cases.
Citing depression, autism and dementia as key targets, the document notes that depression treatment rate should rise by 50 percent by 2020, and eligible patients with economic difficulties will be financially supported.
To address a lack of mental health professionals, the plan encourages health institutes to set up psychology clinics and strengthen staff training, raising the projected number of doctors specializing in mental disorders to 40,000 by 2020.
鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely understaffed, and I have accepted virtually anyone rejected by other hospital sections, regardless of his or her background,鈥 Li Wenxiu, vice head of a mental health hospital in Beijing, told reporters.
China currently has 1,650 professional mental health institutes, with over 20,000 physicians and 228,000 beds, meaning that the country has to double the number of mental health physicians in five years.
Due to inadequate treatment, economic difficulties and low awareness, many patients are confined or left to wander alone on the street.
One tragic example was the case of Wu Yuanhong, locked in a reinforced iron cage by his mother, with his legs shackled, for 11 years. Before that, Wu had beaten a 13-year-old boy to death after he was bullied.
鈥淣o mother wants to lock her child in a cage, but I couldn鈥檛 allow him to go out and hurt people again, could I? It鈥檚 the only way,鈥 said Wang Muxiang, Wu鈥檚 mother. In 2013, Wu was freed and received treatment under a free medical aid policy.
鈥淧atients with severe mental problems are usually hit by delusions when they cause bedlam or kill people. With proper treatment, such delusions will be reduced and even eliminated, thus they won鈥檛 kill,鈥 said Lu Lin, head of the Peking University Sixth Hospital.
The plan also urges to exploring ways to prevent and treat mental illness in general while setting up rehab centers and a green channel to take in patients who are dangerous or have sparked incidents or crimes and give them treatment.
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